The recent surrender of land by Kiambu Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) Board of Trustees to the Board of Governors has opened the lid on the ongoing protracted battle over the control of the institute’s assets.
The two groups have not been seeing eye to eye over the management of the institute’s assets including land, which they have been tussling over. Interestingly, the trustees handed over only one and a half acres out of 196 acres owned by the institute.
Last year, reports emerged that an entity named The Registered Trustees of Kiambu Institute of Science and Technology had allegedly taken over the college’s assets including land.
Speaking when he handed over the land to the Board of Management recently, the Board of Trustees (BoT) Chairman Kimani Mathu refuted the claims, saying they were only the custodian of the institute’s assets.
Mr Mathu said the land surrendered will be used for the construction of the four storey tuition block with a capacity of hosting 1,500 students.
He denied the trustees had taken over the property of the institute, saying according to the law, the trustees are the custodians of the physical assets while the management is the manager of the assets including the college.
He added the BoT had been the custodian of the institute’s land measuring 196 acres for the last 48 years during which time not even an inch has been alienated for any other purposes, contrary to some reports.
However, in a swift turn of events, the chairman of the institute’s Board of Governors, Dr Kamau Kariu, yesterday disowned the move by trustees to hand over only one and a half acres instead of the entire land to the Board of Governors.
Dr Kariu confirmed there has been a protracted battle over the control of the entire land pitting the two groups. He said they have been trying to reverse the registration of the land back to the college to no avail, adding that there has been a lot of interference and obstacles from some Government agencies and powerful forces that he declined to name.
The chairman said in their bid to have the land registered back in school’s name, they went to the Head of Public Service Joseph Kinyua who in turn referred them to Attorney General Paul Kihara for a legal opinion.
The
Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Act, whose date of commencement was June 2013, vests management and ownership of the public assets in the Board of Governors. KIST is yet to be registered afresh under the TVET ACT, 2013 since it has no land under its name.
[Article source: The Standard, by Kamau Maichuhie]
